Sand is fun and, typically, easy to paint.
Remember, the farther away from the viewer it’s supposed to be, the fewer details it will have.
So in the background, it’s just a swipe of plain color without speckles or texture visible.
Concentrate your details in the foreground, and you’ll be well on your way to making realistic sand.
Sometimes sand has particles of reflective
rock, like quartz crystals or silica in it, and those will sparkle in
the light. So start your painting by dipping a toothbrush in a bit of
masking fluid and running your thumb across it.
You
should get a fine spattering of small, even droplets. Put in as many as
you want and let that dry. If some of your sparkles got out of control,
rub them off the page before you start painting.
Lay in a base color first. This doesn’t have to be just one color;
while the first tone is still wet, go ahead and drop in a few different
shades and some variations and let them mix on the paper. In the
foreground sand, you may want to spritz a bit of water over the damp
paint, or drop in some salt.
Salt
will create a star-like pattern, and water, depending on how dry the
paper is when you hit it, will make blooms in the paint. The wetter the
paper, the larger those blooms will be.
Let
the base color and initial textures dry completely, then rub away your
masking fluid if you used any (you might only rub most of it away and
save a few for the very last step to keep those very bright).
Proctect the background, then fling in a few dots of dark paint using either a brush or toothbrush.
Experiment
on a piece of scratch paper to see the differences in the techniques
before using them in your painting. Vary those dots by blottting some of
them and softening the edges of others.
When
everything is dry, add final details with a small brush. You might want
to lighten a few dots around the dark spots to make it look more like
three-dimensional rocks or twigs in the sand.
For wet sand, most of the detail is obscured by highlights or dark
shadows on the water. The color is a lot smoother, because that water
coats it like plastic and covers all those little grains of sand.
So
all you should really see is a pattern of smooth-edged lights and
darks. If there are speckles at all, they’re going to be fairly large
pebbles, and you should see a little pattern of light around each one to
show how the water is moving.
There’s no trick, except to work from a good reference and take your time on those finicky details.
Want To Learn More...
A seascape is a landscape drawing that features the ocean and elements along the shore of the ocean.
Seascapes
have been the subject of drawings and paintings for generations but
recently it seems to be a hidden gem that is forgotten by budding
artists.
Drawing seascapes offer challenges and artistic possibilities that make them ideal subjects for artists of all levels.
Artists
who do attempt this form of drawing usually get caught up on focusing
on the wrong elements which makes it hard to get a life like portrait.
Once
you know the elements that will make or break your seascape you will
never look back and will have more confidence in your ability.
Warm Regards
Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy
Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy
